The String of Pearls
The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
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The String of Pearls
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Narrated by:
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Cathy Dobson
About this listen
The iconic tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was first published as a weekly series of 'penny dreadfuls' between November 1846 and March 1847. The author cannot be determined with any certainty, but scholars believe it was most probably written collaboratively by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest, alternating between each episode released.
Our story begins in 1785 when a young seafarer, Captain Thornhill, disappears while visiting the shop of a barber in London, a certain Sweeney Todd whose shop in Fleet Street is situated by St. Dunstan's church, just round the corner from the famous and popular meat pie shop run by Mrs. Lovett.
Thornhill was carrying a string of pearls as a gift for Johanna Oakley, the sweetheart of his friend Mark Ingestrie who is missing, presumed lost at sea. One of Thornhill's friends, Colonel Jeffrey, together with Johanna Oakley, takes up the search...and suspicion immediately falls on the barber's shop as Thornhill's faithful dog has taken up station at that door and refuses to leave the place. But the mystery only deepens.
Todd's apprentice asks awkward questions and makes some frightening discoveries, but is immediately dispatched to a lunatic asylum outside London where he is incarcerated. And meanwhile the entire district is troubled by an appalling stench rising from the vaults of St. Dunstan's church.
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What listeners say about The String of Pearls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Philip Tyson
- 08-09-19
Narration needs more diversity
This is a great story, gripping in places. But it was let down by the narrators inability to give distinct voices and speech patterns to the different characters. She has a very idiosyncratic style whereby the ends of words are long and drawn out, particularly when the words end with e or a. For example, the main protagonist is Johanna, and in all instances when the name is read, no matter which character is saying it, the narrator pronounces it Johannaaaaaaah. This became irritating after a while. But other than that, a great audiobook.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR DA LONGUEHAYE
- 16-10-24
Excellently read
Great story, narrator keeps you loving the read. If you like this period in time, go for it.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ds
- 22-09-19
The voice!
Good story but the voice actor is terrible!
Everything is spoken weirdly and there’s no character put into it
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Katie Nicole McCarthy
- 04-02-20
Had to return
I've always wanted to listen to the story of Sweeny Todd so I was happy when I found this book but after only listening to it for three and a half minutes I had to return it. I have no idea what the narrator was going for but, I found how she told the story to be quite distracting with adding extra emphasis at the end of every word and at the end of every sentence Highly distracting and kind of gave me a headache?
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Liam
- 28-10-22
Come on Cathy :/
Just gotta echo what others have said. I've had to give the story itself a neutral rating because I really couldn't tell you if it was any good or not. The narration here is so strange, with every sentence being said as though it was coming from a villain in a toddlers tv show. There is no attempt to adjust delivery for context, emotion or even between characters. The main annoyance however is how the intonation never changes, with every sentence ending in a long drawl that practically doubles the running time. I've looked into other books narrated by Cathy Dobson and she seems like a fine performer. I don't think this is a competency issue, I just think she was on auto pilot all the way through, not feeling the need to engage. It's a shame as this is (as far as I can tell) the only version of this story on audible and it's no understatement to say that it's completely unlistenable.
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